Abderrazak Hamdallah


Abderrazak "Abdo" Hamdallah is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Professional League. Between 2012 and his retirement from international football in November 2019 he made 14 appearances for the Morocco national team scoring 6 goals.

Early life

Born in Safi, Morocco, Hamdallah was the youngest of seven children of the family. Hamadallah spoke about his childhood, stating: "I started playing football in the street with other children of the city where I was born, Safi. As a teenager, I enrolled in a club in town. I was playing almost every day after school and all weekend. My older brother always supported me. He encouraged me to work hard. He was both my mentor and my first bear."

Club career

Hamdallah started his professional career when he played for Olympique Safi of Morocco's top league.

Aalesund

On 14 February 2013, it was confirmed that Hamdallah had joined Tippeliga club Aalesund. The transfer fee was in the region of €1 million or 7,4 million Norwegian Krone and the player signed a three-year contract, his first European contract. The transfer fee was the highest Aalesund has paid for a player ever.
Hamdallah spoke about the first time he arrived at Norway, stating: "It was a difficult experience because I arrived in a country that's very cold, but through an effort of will, I overcame every obstacle. I was the first player from the Moroccan championship to come to Norway, and my signing generated a lot of attention in the newspapers. In the end, I was able to silence my critics by finishing as one of the leading scorers in the league."
Hamdallah made his debut on 1 April 2013 as a substitute in the 0–1 away win of Sandnes Ulf and then scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–0 win over Sarpsborg 08 on 14 April 2013. Then on 13 May 2013, Hamdallah scored his first hat-trick for Aalesund in a 7–1 win over Lillestrøm SK, which he helped the club into second place after nine games. After scoring ten goals so far this season, Hamadallah scored his second hat-trick of the season, in a 3–1 win over Viking on 25 October 2013.
In his first season with the club, Hamdallah scored 15 times in 27 appearance and was included in the Team of the Year. Also, it left Hamdallah as the club's top scorer, though he was the second in the league behind Frode Johnsen.

Guangzhou R&F

In February 2014, Hamdallah joined Chinese Super League side Guangzhou R&F. Upon the move, Hamdallah will be coached by Sven-Göran Eriksson for a record fee of €4.5 million or 33,3 million Norwegian Krone. His departure from Aalesund left the club very affected, due to his goal-scoring form, something the club struggled with after Hamdallah left Norway for China.
After making two appearance at the start of the season, Hamdallah scored his first hat-trick of the season, in a 3–1 win over Shanghai Shenxin on 22 March 2014. In the next game against Hangzhou Greentown, he scored another hat-trick in a 6–2 win. He scored again in the next match against Henan Jianye, which he scored twice in a 4–0 win. After a week out over a leg injury, Hamdallah scored the winning goal, in a 1–0 win over against reigning champion, Guangzhou Evergrande. In his first season at Guangzhou R&F, Hamdallah made twenty-two appearance and scoring twenty-two times.
Despite making a good start in the first four matches and scoring three times against Hangzhou Greentown, Shanghai SIPG and Guizhou Renhe. Hamdallah also scored in the group-stage of AFC Champions League match against Gamba Osaka. However, Hamdallah suffered leg injury and then continuously suffered from injuries. Not only that, his attitude caused a stir from Manager Cosmin Contra and the pair fell out.
It was announced on 3 July 2015 that Hamdallah would leave the club, to make room for foreign players.

El Jaish

On 24 July 2015, Hamdallah joined El Jaish in the Qatar Stars League on a two-year contract with an option of extending for a third year. As part of the move, Aalesund received 25 percent of the transfer fee paid to Guangzhou
Hamdallah had missed half of the season of 2016 due to a knee injury. His scoring has dropped this season due to absence of half of the games in this season.
R&F by El Jaish.

Al Nassr

On 23 August 2018, Hamdallah joined Al Nassr in the Saudi Professional League. By April 2019 he had scored 100 league goals, a record since the league became professional in 2007.
Despite the bad start due to a previous ankle injury Hamadallah was able to end his first season in the Saudi Professional League as the top scorer after impressively scoring 68 goals.

International career

He retired from international duty in November 2019.

Style of play

Hamadallah has been praised for his excellent attacking positioning and clinical finishing abilities. He’s scored several hat-ricks and super hat-ricks in all clubs he played with.
Hamadallah is also known for his composure, dribbling and excellent ball control. He is also capable of providing assists for his teammates. He is able to use both feet, despite being naturally right footed. Besides, he is known to be a power header. Because of his impressive technical and tactical ability many of his Al Nassr's fans call him "the Arabian Suarez”.

Career statistics

International

International goals

NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.8 June 2013Stade de Marrakech, Marrakesh, Morocco1–02–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.9 October 2014Stade Ibn Batouta, Tangier, Morocco1–04–0Friendly
3.9 October 2014Stade Ibn Batouta, Tangier, Morocco2–04–0Friendly
4.9 October 2014Stade Ibn Batouta, Tangier, Morocco4–04–0Friendly
5.13 November 2014Stade Adrar, Agadir, Morocco2–06–1Friendly
6.13 November 2014Stade Adrar, Agadir, Morocco5–16–1Friendly

Honours

Club

El Jaish
Al-Nassr